By: Tanner Shotwell
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV) – The University of Arkansas is hosting the Black Music Symposium starting March 14-16.
The event was set to happen in February but a lot of the acts had to postpone due to the inclement weather that struck Northwest Arkansas.
The symposium is meant to celebrate and illuminate black excellence and explore the musical contributions of African Americans. The event hopes to invoke feelings of gratitude for all that may attend.
This year’s theme for the event is “Lest Our Feet Stray.”
The symposium organizer, Jeffrey Murdock, who is also a Grammy Award-winning educator, talked about the theme’s purpose.
“This year’s theme, ‘Lest Our Feet Stray,’ aims to invoke a spirit of remembrance of Black music genres that were integral to the survival of Black Americans during slavery, the Jim Crow South, and the Civil Rights Movement.”
The schedule change was difficult due to the many acts and talents that were forced to postpone and reschedule their visits to the U of A.
The Administrative Specialist of the Department of Music, Britt Graves, described the toll that the mass change in schedule took on the department team, but was thankful for the flexibility of the talent.
“There were some moments of anxiety…Everyone has been incredibly welcome in helping us get our guest artists here and moving things around to have our concerts and lectures!”
The Black Music Symposium will be starting the 14th at 6:30 p.m., with 10 total acts scheduled for the two day period.